Full of Compassion

"But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth." (Psalm 86:15)

There was a song back in the Nineties called "God is Good." It was pretty popular and had a really good message. Sometimes in our human efforts to "figure out" God we come to faulty conclusions. We have trouble reconciling the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New. But that is usually because we have a superficial view of God and when we read the Word we go looking for Him with major preconceptions and misconceptions. One of these days I'll delve further into that when I have a little more time.

The truth is that God frequently gets a bad rap. We blame Him for our sin, our mistakes, our hurts, our pain, our disappointment or anywhere we've felt let down. We blame God for all the circumstances of life that mostly we cause ourselves. Not all. Sometimes life will deal you a bad hand. We live in a fallen world. Humanity is broken and creation is sundered. Humanity, outside of Jesus, is in a state of rebellion God. God is not the problem. We are.

But there is good news. When we look past our preconceived notions about God and we look a little deeper at the Word one of the common themes that comes out again and again is the Goodness of God. He is merciful and compassionate. Psalm 34:19 tell us that "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD deliverers him out of them all." God is not our problem. He is the solution for it. He is our rescuer. The history of God dealings with humanity is a story of God's drawing us to Him. He loves us with such a wonderful love. Jesus laid down His life for that love.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (1st John 4:7-8)

A Better Covenant

"But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second." (Hebrews 8:6-7)

Hebrews, along with Galatians and Romans, is absolutely critical to our understanding of God's Word -- particularly the relationship between the Old and New Covenants. Trying to mix the two gives us a confusing schizophrenic blend of law and grace. Hebrews 8 talks about Jesus as the mediator of a better covenant that was established on better promises. The comparison here is between the Old Covenant, given through Moses, and the New, established in Jesus Christ. Let's be clear here -- the New is better than the Old and established on better promises. The first covenant was faulty. It sounds almost blasphemous to say that but it's okay -- God said it first.

Why was it faulty? If we keep reading in Hebrews 8 we find that "they did not continue in My covenant." Man couldn't keep his end of the covenant. The covenant was continually being broken. Reading on in Hebrews 8:10 we find that God says, "I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." The Old Covenant was an external law to be followed but it didn't change the heart. The New is written on our hearts. The Old was based in keeping rules, the New is based in relationship.

In Hebrews 9 we read that Christ came as High priest with the greater and more perfect Tabernacle and not of this creation (9: 11). The elements of the priestly service in the Old Covenant consisted of things made with wordly things. Every element, from the wood and gold to the goats and calves, was part of this creation. But Jesus came from outside of this creation as the perfect sacrificial lamb with the shedding of His own blood. This is critical. The Old Covenant was cut between God and man, who as we have seen, always failed to keep his part. The New Covenant was cut between God and Jesus. God came from outside and entered His creation to bring us redemption. God, literally, cut covenant with Himself. God upholds both ends of the covenant so it cannot be broken. We are partakers of this covenant by faith.

Now that is good news!

"And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." (Hebrews 9:15)

New Wineskins

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins." (Mark 9:22)

In Biblical times wineskins were made from whole tanned goat skins with the head, legs and tails removed. New wineskins were used because the skin was still flexible. Wine put in an old stiff wineskin would cause it to burst as carbon dioxide was given off in the fermentation process. Think of a balloon. If you keep blowing on a balloon eventually it will burst. New wineskins were flexible enough to expand and strong enough not to burst.

The example Jesus gives us here is a poignant one concerning our need for humility and a teachable heart. One of the worst places we can be is when we think we already know everything --when we judge the sermon we just heard or the Bible verse we just read through our own lens. If the pastor agrees with me it was a good sermon. If he doesn’t it was obviously a bad sermon. If the Bible verse doesn't line up with my theology there must be a way to explain it away.

That’s one of the things I love about the Word of God. The Word of God will keep you humble if you let it. Years ago I made up my mind that I was not going to argue against God’s Word or try to make it line up with what I believe. That was one of the best decisions of my life.

Receiving the Word with joy will help you to be a new wineskin. Some people look at passages that Jesus said about prayer, or the Holy Spirit, or the power of God and then go into tortured logic to try to explain why they’re not for today. I want to read those verses and be challenged. I want to be inspired in my personal walk with the Lord. If Jesus said we would do greater works than He did then I want to embrace that – not fight against it.

When you read Bible passages that challenge your belief system does your heart leap with joy and expectation or do you quickly run to try to find a way around it?

Maintain a humble and teachable heart. Living the Christian life with wonder and excitement makes it a precious and rewarding journey. Don't try to submit the Word of God to your beliefs and circumstances. Submit your beliefs and circumstances to the Word of God. You'll be glad you did.